


misery

by mytamp0nisfalling0ut



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Crossover, Multi, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29365416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mytamp0nisfalling0ut/pseuds/mytamp0nisfalling0ut
Summary: death follows desdemona. everywhere she goes. after two short years at Ilvermorny, she gets transferred to Hogwarts in hopes of the people being able to help figure out what's wrong with her.fvck jkr, so some story details may be changed(esp class schedules)hi this is my first story so pls dont judge too harshly. on that note, if you see ways to improve my writing, pls dont hesitate to reach out!(desdemona pronounced dez-de-moan-a)quotes and italicized mean her thoughts and therefore will be in first person but story is mainly in third personthere will be cursing and gen z humor!
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s)





	1. part one

_what cannot be said will be wept_


	2. the journey

God, she hated that drop in her stomach after apparating. Especially when it's onto a moving train. Besides the fact that she literally wanted to puke until she died, the Hogwarts Express was lovely. The surprisingly comfortable blue seats, the empty noise of the train moving along the track, the temperature adjusting to her every need, and, to top it off, the breath-taking scenery.

As the calming motion of the train helped to calm her rowdy stomach, she took a deep breath and settled into her seat. She had no clue how long it would be until they reached their destination. After all her apparition-nausea, the nerves of going to the infamous Hogwarts hit her like a train. _"Oh my god. I'm going to Hogwarts."_

_"I'm going to Hogwarts? Alright. No need to panic. I've thought about this. A lot. I already decided who I'm going to be. I've run plenty of scenarios. We're gonna be alright. Right? Oh god. Now I'm questioning every decision I've ever made. Shit. Shit. Shit."_ She forced her nerves and distracting thoughts down and forced herself to look out the window. The scenery was perfect. Meadows overflowing with heavenly flowers, weeping willows that cried tears for her, the sea whispering to her the sorrows it sees. All of it helped distract her till nightfall.

The sound of the rain pounding against the tin roof of the train had almost put her to sleep when the train suddenly stopped. She very clearly wasn't the only one confused as she heard shouts making their way up the train following the lights going out. She had the fleeting thought of "What if we're already at Hogwarts?" before she realized that, because of the other student's concerns, couldn't be the truth. The temperature dropped before she thought to grab her wand. Ice danced its way across the window. She realized all too late that everyone was silent as a hand made of dirty bone started pushing the door back to her compartment.

Sadness, fear, and a feeling of numbness washed over her as a tall, cloaked being floated into her compartment. She felt so helpless and tears threatened to spill. Her throat felt stripped and she knew she wouldn't be able to speak, no matter how desperately she wanted to scream at the thing to go away. It started to come closer to her, sounding off a high-pitched screech in her head. She grasped at her head, took handfuls of her hair, trying to get away from these feelings. As more creatures followed the first one in coming closer to her, she felt like her soul was being crushed. She felt her body tense up and found it hard to take in any air.

"... please......." she heard herself distantly whisper, helpless.

The first and original creature leaned in closer. She leaned her head to the side, tears sliding down her cheek. Flinching, she felt something freezing touch her cheek. Her thoughts came extremely clear as she looked at the creature attached to the bones touching her face.

A raspy voice entered her thoughts. _"please..... help us........ please..........."_

Did..... did that......... thing just speak to her???

"I'm sorry... I don't......... I'm sorry," she uttered out of pure confusion.

_"please, help us....... please.............."_ The same raspy voice now sounded on the verge of tears.

She reached her hand to the creatures on her face. She could feel the pain and anger and fear coursing through its body. Her heart wept for it. Through the crushing emptiness she felt, she thought of her mother and her favorite memories with her and her siblings. She felt her lips draw a weak smile as her heart filled with love. Without even thinking, she shared those memories with the creature through her fingers. The feelings of pain and anger slowly started to reside in it, and the temperature in the room started to rise a little bit more. The other creatures slowly became more relaxed as they too felt her feelings of love and warmth. Underneath her eyelids, she saw the room start to glow. Her body started to warm up. Regardless, she kept trying to help the creatures as much as she could.

The screeching from earlier re-entered her brain and muddled her thoughts. She found summoning happier thoughts harder and the light subsided. She reluctantly opened her eyes knowing that whatever was going to happen next, she wasn't going to like it. The creatures were all looking towards the front of the train as if the walls were translucent. She gripped the hand on her cheek harder as she could feel the thing was feeling immense sadness having to leave. She sputtered a desperate no as they started to back away. Out the door they went, leaving her in a puddle of guilt. Slowly, more creatures made their way down her compartment, all seeming to be leaving. Silent tears streamed down her face. She waited a few minutes, just wanting the train to continue its path onward.

Just as soon as she started to feel an increment better, another creature passed her door. It made her fall to the floor. Her vision came in and out as it stopped and stared at her. She felt like she was being crushed. Her sadness had been brought to a whole nother level. She felt like she was carrying someone else's pain.

She heard a desperate cry of the name James as she passed out, tears still making their way down her face.

***

Eventually, she woke to the train moving again, the ice gone and the temperature back to normal. A hauntingly beautiful man crouched over her, a concerned look over his scarred face.

"Hello, darling," he whispered, as not to shock her. His voice was calming and just overall lovely. His words draped over her like an extra thick blanket trying to warm her up. "It seems you fainted when the dementors wrongly entered the train." She made a mental note of the name to look up later. "Here. Eat this, it'll make you feel better." He handed her a few pieces of chocolate from a golden wrapper after helping her sit up.

She knew better than to eat something a random man gave her, so, as politely as she could, she whispered a "No thank you" back to him, no matter how trusting he seemed.

"It's alright, you can trust me." He grinned softly at her. She gave in, already exhausted and not wanting to fight. _"Oh please, Jesus don't let this man kidnap and/or harm me. Please."_ Slowly she ate the chocolate letting it melt into her mouth. Physically, she did feel better. She felt warm and like she was back in her normal state. But, as her mind cleared, all the feelings from before she fainted returned as powerful as ever, if not more so. The crushing emotions she felt from the dementors made her want to scream.

She felt her tears returning so she muttered a quiet thank you to the man that had helped her, trying to get him to leave.

He returned her gesture with a slight smile and a polite nod. "Oh, you better get into your robes, we'll be arriving at Hogwarts shortly," he said with another smile and shut her compartment door.

_"Robes? What?"_


	3. restless souls

As the train bustled with students making their way off the train, Dessie braced herself. After fainting, she had redone her makeup. It was completely ruined after her sobs. Drawing on her signature weird eyeliner made her feel way more at peace. It helped her feel more herself and not like she was carrying everyone else's problems and traumas. She took a few deep breaths, preparing herself to exit the train and dive head-first into an unknown world. 

She waited till most people had cleared from her part of the train before reaching her hand out and pulling back the door. The previous murmur of voices was instantly amplified. She was very, very, _very_ tempted to shut her door again and just rot in her little compartment. But, nonetheless, she readied herself and made her way off the train. 

The platform was _extremely_ crowded. Bunches of kids filled every nook and cranny. She felt herself start to hyperventilate and took as deep a breath as she could. Her feet almost went from the few stairs of the train and onto the platform as she heard a burly voice shouting over the heads of the students.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" She quickly found the source of the booming voice. There was a man about 8 feet tall, completely towering over all the tiny children that were gathered around his legs. She watched for another minute, trying to take everything in. While she was watching, a group of three passed by him.

Straining to hear, she made out all of them say a quick "Hi Hagrid" to which he replied a "'ello. 'ope yer 'oliday was nice," before they moved on. She realized that she was supposed to meet someone named Hagrid and that he was supposed to guide her to the school.

 _"God I really wish I didn't choose a low-waisted skirt AND a crop top to wear."_ It was absolutely freezing out. She readied herself before letting her feet meet the platform. Making her way over to Hagrid was an awful challenge, but, eventually, she made it through the sea of kids.

"Hi, I'm Desdemona. I think you're supposed to help me make my way to the school," she said with as much confidence as possible to Hagrid. 

He took her in before saying a messy, "OH! Yes, erm, Dumbledore told me we had a new student comin' ter Hogwarts! Yea, yer jus' follow 'e 'nd the firs' years."

"Alright, thank you," she muttered with a small nod of her head. 

***

As soon as Hagrid decided everyone was gathered, he made his way down a pathway that seemed to lead to some sort of lake. Boats were waiting for their arrival at the shore. Dessie hesitated as she looked into the astonishingly beautiful surface of the lake. It looked like the depths were endless; she could've admired it forever if she didn't have to make her way to Hogwarts.

Trying to keep the small row-boat from tipping, she carefully made her way into it. The first years sat 3-4 in a boat whilst Hagrid got his own. As first years started to make their way to her boat, she looked at them with as much of a bitch face as she could muster. It felt weird. Usually, she was friendly to everyone, but, as she had learned, that only led to pain. The first years heading her way let out a tiny yelp and made their way into a new boat. She let out a sigh of relief and spread out in her boat, hoping that it made her look dominant and steered others away from her. After everyone had found their boat, none of them being hers, the group started towards the shadow of a huge castle across the lake, Hagrid in front.

***

They arrived at long last, they met the shore of the castle and started the trek up to it. 

As she stepped foot in the entrance, a type of coldness sent shivers up and down her body. She felt uneasy like she needed peace. Her eyes roamed the castle, searching for the source of this discomfort to no avail. And, it seemed she was the only one feeling this way. All of the other young children looked around the castle, admiring everything. Hagrid led them to great wooden doors where they were met by a stunning witch. She was on the older side, but that only added to her beauty. Wrinkles framed her eyes and mouth, showing signs of past happiness. Dessie felt a little better around the older witch. Hagrid introduced the witch as Professor McGonagall. Des smiled slightly to herself. The name was perfect.

As she listened to Professor McGonagall give a short speech, her feelings of unrest returned, and powerfully so. Her head rang and her eyesight blurred. She stumbled off trying to once again find the source of her pain. She let her fingers run against the rough walls of Hogwarts and let her body guide her. When she finally stopped, she was greeted with a silvery being. It looked human, but she knew if she reached a hand out, it would only meet the air. The thing just looked back at her. It tilted its head and put on a quizzical face. 

"Hi-" Dessie's voice broke and she cleared her throat hoping it would help her in some way. "Um, hi. M-my name is Desdemona..... Who are you?" All she could muster was a weak voice.

"Hello, my child. My name is Annette. I'm... I'm dead? At least I think I am. Um, I was wondering..... Why do I feel connected to you?" She drew her words out carefully as if she was afraid she'd break them. Her French accent was intoxicating and her olden gowns were exquisite. 

"I- I was wondering the same thing..." The two starred at each other, both at a loss. "Um, I should be going then..... Alright," Dessie said with a nod of confidence. She didn't know what just happened and Annette probably didn't either with the way she just wandered off aimlessly. 

Dessie made her way back to the grand wooden doors. Her past crowd was nowhere to be seen, but behind the great doors came but one voice. It was loud and powerful and was accompanied by a great deal of pain and sorrow. Dessie would have simply crumpled if she didn't hear the voice talking about her. 

"... student from our sister school, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please help me in welcoming Desdemona Angelos." He paused as if he was waving her in. She braced herself to push open the grand doors and make her first impression among the many students. Her mind was shockingly at ease. 

She took a deep breath as the voice called for her again, this time a little more uncertain. She placed her hands against the rough wood of the doors, and, with one giant push, made the doors swing open revealing a vast space filled with four tables. The ceiling was a deep black dotted with stars that made it look as if it was an endless space. She assumed it was enchanted to look like the sky. Candles floated among the sky and lanterns were posted on the walls. Many students filled all the space at the tables except for the front where she presumed was going to be filled by the crowd of tiny children in front of the doors. They separated to reveal her to which the students replied with gasps. They took all of her in. From her platforms that were attached to her long legs to her black long sleeve. Her short black hair grazed her shoulders, making her shiver. Dessie had her strongest face on, looked straight forward, and started to walk.

_"How far away is that damn stool?????"_

She felt like she had been walking forever. All eyes were following her. People were even whispering about her. 

"Wow", "Who is _that_?", and, by far her favorite, "I would _so_ hit that" were some of the small conversations she heard as making her journey to a little four-legged stool next to an _extremely_ old man holding a dirty old hat. 

When she finally made her way to the stool, the old man gestured to the stool. She held her skirt to her thighs as she perched herself on the stool and crossed her legs, her arms by her sides holding the edge of the stool. 

_"God I hope my boobs look good"_ is the last thought she had as the old man lowered the hat onto her head. She braced herself, not knowing what was going to happen. 

As soon as the hat touched her head, it left. It blew off her head with extreme fury and flew halfway back to the door. Silence coated the great hall followed shortly after by an eruption of noise. She saw a dark light glowing above her head in the edge of her eyesight. She looked up to see a small scythe hovering over her head. It glowed a deep black. It looked old and creepy as if it belonged to the grim reaper itself. 

She heard the hushed voices of the teachers behind her. The firm voice of McGonagall was asking the old man, who she presumed was Dumbledore, what the symbol was. He returned her words with a sharp turn of his head. He stepped forward and leaned to whisper in Dessie's ear, making the symbol on top of her head disappear.

"You're from the house Horned Serpent right?" She replied with a sharp nod. "SLYTHERIN," he boomed to the entire hall, making them shut up. He gestured to the table to the far left that was filled by a bunch of children in green-hooded robes. She pushed herself off the stool and made her way to the bench closest to the wall of the Slytherin table as an old, small, weird little man grabbed the hat from the floor and did a little weird hop and run combination to Dumbledore, giving him the hat.

She found an empty gap a few people down and sat purposefully. The people on either side of her scooted even farther away from her. She glared at them then turned her attention back to where Dumbledore was standing as he announced the sorting would continue with the first years. 

***

After all the tiny first years were into either Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Slytherin, the tables filled with a plethora of food. She found exactly what she was craving on her plate, a small, medium-rare filet paired with just plain white rice. It was a very plain meal, but it always made her feel better; her comfort meal. Her mother made this for her for as long as she could remember. A small smile touched her face.

Her hands had just started to make their way to her fork and knife as a thin, white-haired boy and his two goons stepped in front of her across the table. At first, she just assumed he was friends with someone near her, but then he cleared his throat as a sign for her to look up. She looked at him with so much confusion on her face, you could see a question mark behind her eyes. He returned her look of confusion. 

"Um, do you need something," Dessie asked with pure confusion as to why this ferret-looking boy was in front of her.

He scoffed at her. "Do you not know who I am?!"

"No?"

She earned another scoff from him and his two ugly friends behind him. He shot them a look then turned back to Dessie. "I," his hand gallantly shot to his chest, "am Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he completed with utmost pride. 

"Alright?" Dessie was so confused. This boy clearly was powerful, or at least his family was since most people were avoiding even glancing in his direction. He was just standing there looking at her, shocked. "Look, I don't know who you are, and, frankly, I don't care. Now, I am trying to eat, so leave me be please." She put on a threatening smile and rolled her eyes, looking back down.

He left out another loud scoff. "You clearly have a lot to learn here," with which he turned, heading back to his spot at the table. She caught him saying to his goons, "She must be a mudblood," which earned a chuckle and nods of agreement from them. She was even more confused than ever. 

***

When the courses were finally finished and the children's stomachs were stuffed, Dumbledore told the houses that their prefect would lead them to their house common room. A boy that looked about 17 years of age stood and yelled for the Slytherins to follow him. Similar things were happening at the other tables. Gryffindor had a rather ugly red-headed boy trying to get a couple of taller red-heads under control while a better-looking girl was at the head of the table getting the rest of the table to follow her. The taller boys kept dancing around the other one and taunting him. She giggled to herself, assuming they were related by how much they were teasing him and by how red in the face the boy she overheard being called Percy was. The people at her table were scoffing at them like they were trash. 

Before she could get a glimpse of the faces of the jokesters, her house was led away and out of the giant room. They kept heading down moving staircases into a part of the castle so cold she thought she was going to get hyperthermia. They walked down another staircase before entering an empty hallway. It was dark and gray and she didn't know where the light source was. There were no lanterns or candles or even regular lights. 

Slytherins prefect stopped them on the stairs. "Hello, my fellow Slytherins! I am Dakota Williams and I will be one of your prefects. As we are about to enter our common room, please remember that this will be your family for however many years you chose to stay at Hogwarts. We are known as being cunning and ambitious, but what many don't know is we also have the traits of resourcefulness and fraternity. We are a family. Treat it as such. Now," he walked to his left a few steps. He placed his hand against one of the stones, "this, is the entrance to our common room. All you have to do is say the password, which, as of now, is 'optimum'. Can everyone give it a try and say it out loud please?" He earned a few murmurs here and there. "Alright then." He turned around and said the password to the wall. The wall slid to the side, almost like it was disappearing. He waved a hand in and started to walk inside. Our group followed him into a dim green room. It was extremely vast and even more gorgeous. 

The center of the room was lower than the rest with a few stairs leading into it. It had comfortable-looking couches around a round coffee table. The floor around the center was filled with couches, chairs, tables, books, etc. There were crystals and lanterns and a ton of fireplaces. The fireplaces were an insanely smart choice considering it was freezing in the lower part of the castle. There were windows that revealed they were underwater which led to the gasps of the first years. 

Dakota let all students enter and waited for the door to slide shut before continuing on. "The password will change every so often so be sure to check your dormitory board and the common room board frequently. That will also be where information will be posted, like when the quidditch team tryouts are." That last piece earned so many cheers that Dakota had to wait multiple minutes before continuing. "If you are a boy please follow me to your dorms and if you are a girl, please follow Brianna," he gestured to a brunette with badly bleached hair that stepped forward. "If you identify as neither please come to me and I will help you. If you want to wait until the tours are over, that is perfectly fine, please follow whatever group you are more comfortable around. Alright, let's get settled!" He led a group of about 150 kids to huge black curtains to the middle of the right wall. Brianna led us to the same on the left wall.

"Hi, I'm Bri. Me, Jen, and Nicole will be your prefects or whatever. Your dorm door will have a nameplate with you and your roommate's name on it if you have one. Most do so don't get pissy if you have to share a room with someone. The floor your room's on will also have a list of people on that floor. And please, please don't come to me with your problems, I don't care. 'Kay just go down the staircase and find your room, your stuff will already be there." She was very much the opposite ofDakota. 

As everyone filed down the stairs, one stayed by the top. "Hi! I'm Nikki, I'm one of the prefects. Please ignore Bri, you can always come to me with your issues, I'll be happy to help. Welcome to Slytherin!" She kept repeating herself as all the girls made their way down the spiral staircase. 

Dessie was luckily on the first floor. She could hear girls groans as they continued their trek downwards and felt terribly sorry for them. Her floor was a long stretch of doors, all across from a long window where small fish and plants passed. She would have let out an audible wow if she wasn't being pushed to find her room by other restless girls. Her eyes scanned the silver plates on the door, searching for her name. It was on the fifth door down accompanied by Pansy Parkison. She hoped Pansy wasn't a bitch.


	4. up and down

She was. Dessie found this out after spending a few hours with Pansy. Pansy nagged at everything, how the pillows weren't "fluffed" enough, how kind Dakota was, how she had to share a room(especially with someone new when she didn't even know their blood status _"okay, but seriously, what the fuck is with these people and my blood?"_ ). Dessie had called the bed farthest from the door. Both beds were queen sized and had deep green sheets. A heavy comforter with extreme embroidery detail lied over them. It was intensely comfortable. She felt like a swaddled baby as she tried to rest her mind enough for sleep. She tossed and turned for a few minutes before realizing what was missing.

She turned toward the wall and propped herself on her elbow. "Blu kitty," Dessie whispered by a small 'tsk-tsk' accompanying her thumb rubbing against her middle and pointer fingers. "Come here Blu kitty," she whispered in a soft and loving voice.

"Oh my god, will you shut up?? I'm trying to get my beauty rest here?" And there's another thing her roommate found to complain about. 

Dessie only responded by calling out again to which Pansy audibly said 'ew' to. Suddenly, a white furball jumped onto her bed and right beside her. He let out an adorable 'mew' and started to rub against Dessie. He meowed like he hadn't seen her in years. Dessie's heart melted at seeing her cat again. She had found him roaming a garden in New York when she was seven. He had been covered in fleas and was skinny enough that she could make out almost all of his bones. She had seen her fair share of stray's in New York, but this one was different. He looked his one blue and one green eye into hers and blinked then bowed his head as if honoring a ruler. Their connection was very powerful. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't bring this cat home, her foster mother would have had a field day. But, he followed her home, all the way to her little stoop. She took him and cared for him with her whole heart. It was devastating when he disappeared for the first time. But, when her heart was broken and she was sobbing, she called out for him for the last time, very weakly. He then came to her. Dessie didn't see how and, frankly, she really didn't care. She had her other half back again and she was ecstatic. Over time, she found that Blu came and went. He was always there when she really needed him though. He was always fed and she'd never seen him use the restroom, but she never really thought about it. As soon as her best friend snuggled up to her, finding his nook in her arm, she was able to sleep. 

***

Sleeping was always eventful for Dessie and not in a good way. Her mind was constantly filled with nightmares of unknown things. Recently, she had been plagued with images of a one-eyed giant picking up a curled hair girl and her letting out a scream. Dessie can feel terrible sadness and she is scared for this girl in her dream. Then it changes to a pale skinny little boy with glazed-over eyes surrounded by a bunch of games and gambling. The place he's in is a party, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels morbid and terrifying. Dessie starts to hyperventilate as she feels like the walls are closing in. As if her eyesight is a camera, she turns and sees a beautiful girl with pale skin similar to the boy's is also playing video games, except a tear is falling down her face. Dessie wants to scream. That girl's fate is to die, and soon. Dessie doesn't know how she knows, she just does. A man with his face blanketed in darkness put a hand on their shoulders. He steered them away from the games and they cam willingly, their minds blank. The figure felt sorrow for these children. Dessie felt connected to these strange few and would have followed them if her dream didn't end there. Her head was a whirl of images as she slept. Monsters and giants, huge tidal waves and skeletons rising, Manhattan asleep. 

***

When she rose, it was approximately 7:06. Her night had been almost completely restless, tossing and turning with fear, sleeping was a difficult task. She rose as carefully as possible, trying not to wake her snoring roommate. Soon she found out that Pansy was a very deep sleeper when she knocked a bunch of shit over. Things clattered. A lot. Dessie braced herself for her roommate to wake up and complain about how Dessie had ruined her beauty sleep then take-up the bathroom for an hour or two. All she got though was a pause in her snoring then a snort. She opened her trunk, knowing whatever outfit she was meant to wear that day would be already in there. Today her outfit was the white button-up leaving it untucked, a green and silver tie, and a gray sweater vest with green lines around the end and around the v-neck combo from the school uniform. She wore her own pleated black skirt because God knows she would not wear a skirt that went to her knees. She slipped on her knee-high black stockings, leaving a few inches of skin showing under the hem of her skirt. In that space, she put on her double-buckle black leather thigh garter, attaching it to her stocking on her left leg. Her shoes for the day were classic Mary Janes, a basic, but an adorable choice. She waited to put them on until she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and put on her makeup, choosing to go with a thicker eyeliner and a line in her crease for fun. She also put some lashes on and some rosy-nude lipstick. Then she put on her rings, her favorite being a tan one she found once. It fit her finger perfectly and was extremely fun to fidget with.

After she was satisfied with her appearance, she headed out of the bathroom, slipped her feet into her shoes, clipped her black knife onto her person, grabbed her wand, and slipped her robe on. Before Dessie left her room to head to breakfast, she pulled out her wand and used the aguamenti spell on pansy, drenching her in water to get up. Pansy let out a screech as Dessie slipped out the door and she was drenched in water. Dessie giggled to herself. Pansy had set multiple alarms and got up to none. Dessie would much rather drench her in water than touch her.

Dessie walked out of the dungeons and into the great hall without meeting anyone. She figured that people would be more active at 8, seeing as classes start at 9, but she clearly guessed wrong. After all, these are teenagers we're talking about. She settled herself at right about the same spot she sat in last night, away from everyone. For her breakfast, she ate a piece of avocado toast and a pipeline punch monster. A few minutes in, more students started to trickle in. The two red-head jokesters from last night sat facing her, so she could finally get a good look at their faces, and they were absolutely stunning. The one on her left had a slightly smaller and chubbier face. The one on her right had a bump on his nose and his eyes were deeper than the boy by his side. They were very clearly identical though. They were obviously very close, too, she figured out as they talked and goofed off by themselves. 

She was enjoying her morning, just watching the twins, and then Draco came back to annoy her with his goons. This time he got ballsy and sat down in front of Dessie. She sighed out of contempt.

"Clearly, you are new here, so I will give you another shot." He paused as if expecting her to bow down to him for being oh-so gracious. 

All he got was an "Um, okay?" from Dessie. 

He let out a small scoff and then re-adjusted himself, obviously determined to make a friendship between them happen. "So, I'm assuming that you are a pure-blood," he asked, trying to act like he wasn't dying to know the answer.

"What's a pure-blood?"

His brows scrunched in confusion before answering. "To be pure-blooded is to be elite. It means there are no muggles," his face was covered in disgust at that word, "in your lineage. I, for example, am a pure-blood. So, are your family members all wizards?" One of his eyebrows were raised, clearly having high hopes.

"I don't know who my parents are, I grew up in foster care." Dessie had said this so many times, it felt like a well-rehearsed line. 

His face grew dark for a minute before returning to his other-wise guarded face. "Oh. That must be tough. I'm sure you are a pure-blood what with how amazing that trick was last night." He earned chuckles from his ugly ass friends. 

"What trick?"

"With the hat. Terribly funny, I wish you could've seen Dumbledore's face."

"That wasn't me."

"Yes, it was? You made it fly off, probably because it was about to give you a different house." He and his goons chuckled like he was the funniest person ever.

"I didn't make it do anything."

"Why do you keep trying to lie to me, darling? I found what you did rather amusing." 

If she didn't get up at that moment, she would have actually punched that little ferret boy in the face or hexed him. Instead, she got up and started to walk up to the top of the table. Draco and his friends whispered to themselves, confused about what Dessie was doing. She heard them talking about the possibility that she was going to snitch on him, but they were even more confused when she turned down the aisle they were in. Draco made one of his goons™ scoot down a spot, probably assuming she was going to sit by him. Instead, she kept walking down a little bit, sitting herself in front of the two red-head jokesters at the Gryffindor table. Her actions earned shocked gasps from her table, specifically Draco, but even the other tables were confused. Dessie assumed this was unconventional, but, honestly, she didn't really care. She was already sick of the boy. 

"Hi," she said in a huff. She forced herself to smile. "I'm Desdemona, nice to meet you."

"Uh," they said in unison. 

"Hello," the boy on her left started. "I'm Fred-"

"- and I'm George," the boy on the right continued. 

"I'm assuming Malfoy's told you all about us already?" Fred took back over. 

"No, why," she asked curiously. 

"Oh. Nevermind then, it's nice to meet you," Fred said. 

_"Note to self, Fred leads."_

"So, you guys are the resident jokesters I'm assuming," Dessie questioned, curious. 

Their faces showed extreme pride. "Yes, yes we are," George said.

"You know, for being here in under 24 hours, you are very smart," Fred took over. They tossed the conversation between themselves expertly.

"Why thank you," Dessie replied with extreme pride and with a dramatic hand to her chest, reminding herself of Draco introducing himself. She earned an incredibly intoxicating laugh from the boys. The three bantered back and forth until a group of three entered the great hall. She recognized them as the trio that passed Hagrid last night. The two boys came and sat down to the right of the twins and the girl sat to Dessie's left. One of the boys had dark brown hair that covered his forehead and round glasses. She could feel that his life has been full of pain so far. The boy to his left was red-head just like the twins. He was round-faced with red cheeks and a lively spirit. On her left, the girl looked lost in thought. Dessie knew that this beautiful girl with knotty hair and princess curls was often lost in thought. She could feel that the girl had dealt with her fair share of pain, but always stuffed it down and helped others. 

The twins and Dessie looked at them as they were chatting amongst themselves. Finally, Fred cleared his throat. The trio looked at him and then at Dessie. They took in her green robes then got defensive. 

The red-head spoke up first. "Bloody hell, what's a Slytherin doing here." Fred opened his mouth, but before he could get anything out, the boy continued on. "Oh don't tell me you're cozying up with the enemy now?" His face got defensive and protective. 

Fred looked at Dessie and laughed. "No, little brother, we are guiding her," he said with a galant hand flourish towards her. 

She giggled, "Hi, I'm Desdemona. I just got pissed off at Draco Malfoy, I'm assuming you know him, the blonde ferret boy?"

Everyone laughed like they genuinely enjoyed her bullying him. "Yes, we know him," the girl to Dessie's left said. "Hi, I'm Hermione and that's Ron," she gestured to the younger red-head. 

"I'm Harry Potter," the boy next to Ron said with a tone of defeat. 

"Nice to meet y'all." Dessie reached a hand out to each. Fred just started to talk again when Dakota started to talk at the head of the Slytherin table. He was saying that they needed to come to him for their time tables. This sent off a chain reaction down the tables of prefects telling their house to come to them for their time tables. Dessie separated from the group of six to head to get her schedule from Dakota. As she was waiting in line for it, she could see the twins teasing Percy. She laughed and Fred made eye contact with her, raising an eyebrow making both him and her laugh more. 

After the others had gotten their schedules from their brother, they headed over to where Dessie was still waiting. They compared schedules this way and that. After a few minutes, Draco Malfoy made his way up to Dessie. He looked confused.

"Why are you being friendly to these blood traitors," he questioned her.

"Draco, I have no idea what you are talking about yet again." Dessie had been at Hogwarts less than a day and she was already about to fight this bitch. 

"The Weasley's, they aren't deserving of the pure-blood status, being friends with Granger and Potter." He spat Harry's last name out like a hairball. He stepped closer. He forced his voice to go deeper. "I really don't get why you're hanging out with them when you could be with me, baby." It took everything in her not to break out into laughter as he looked her up and down. 

She stepped closer to him, their faces were just mere inches apart. "And why would I ever want to be with a greasy, small-dicked, little ferret boy like you Draco," she asked in a slow, low voice letting innocence play through her eyes. 

He backed away with shock and let out a scoff. "M-my father will hear about this," he shouted back at her, panic in his voice.

She turned back to her group and let out her own scoff. "Daddy issues much," she said, jabbing her thumb in Draco's direction. The group was silent for a moment before pestering her with questions trying to find out what she said to him. She shrugged. "I just asked him why I would want to hang out with a greasy, small-dicked, little ferret boy," Dessie repeated putting on an innocently-confused face. 

As they laughed and made remarks like "How did you get away with that?" she reached Dakota and got her timetable. She gave him a small thanks accompanied by a nod. Her group walked out of the great hall to compare schedules. 

Since it was Monday, she didn't have any classes till 11, when she had Divination taught by Professor Trelawney with Hufflepuff. Ron, Harry, and Hermione all had divination first and second period which means she couldn't get to know them better.

Fred leaned over her, taking a look at her schedule. "Hey, we can hang out, my first class is at 11, too," he said, placing a hand on the small of her back and giving her a gentle smile. "And it'll just be me and you," he brought his hand to his face in a not-so-subtle whisper, "George has _"other things"_ to do," he said with a roll of his eyes. He offered his hand for a fist bump.

Dessie let out a laugh and returned his fist bump. "Yeah, you can show me around the castle maybe?" Since she just arrived last night, Dessie hadn't gotten to find her way around the castle yet. 

He gave her a mischievous smile. "Why, it'd be my pleasure."


	5. mischief

Hand-in-hand, Fred and Dessie ran down the halls of Hogwarts, giggling like children. Scolding and encouraging, many portrait voices filled the hall, only making the pair's laughs grow. At the sound of footsteps, Fred pulled them into a closet, trying not to knock over anything. 

He motioned for light so Dessie whispered a quiet 'Lumos', making the end of her wand light up. With light, Dessie could see the bare parchment Fred was holding. Before she could say anything, Fred tapped the sheet with his wand and muttered the sentence, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." At the tip of his wand, ink started to blossom, playfully running across the paper. Confusion and excitement for what Fred was holding mixed in her eyes as Dessie watched. She inched closer to Fred as he let out a breath of enlightenment. 

"What-," is all Dessie could get out before Fred interrupted her, amusement filling his voice. 

"This is the secret to our success- erm, my brothers and I's that is," he said with passion. At the confused look on Dessie's face, he continued, "It shows where everybody is in the discovered parts of the castle. So, we can see people in the great hall, classrooms, even secret passages, and more, but, we can't see people in the chamber of secrets or the room of requirements. It's bloody brilliant, isn't it?" Dessie nodded. Fred glanced back down at the map and did a double-take. He pulled Dessie's hand toward the map with a quick 'sorry'. A small chuckle left his mouth. "Here," he pointed to a little name floating down a corridor, "is where you can see Nearly Headless Nick about to pass us."

"And who's Nearly Headless Nick?"

"Oh, Gryffindor's resident ghost. Ravenclaw has the Grey Lady, Hufflepuff, the Fat Friar, and Slytherin has the Bloody Baron. Of course, there are more ghosts than those four, but that's beside the point." He let out a grin at the fact that he recited those facts off the top of his head making Dessie laugh. They stared at each other a moment, the conversation dead before Fred looked back down at the map. He let out a shaky breath. "Um, the hallways clear now." Another moment of silence filled the air.

"So, where are you gonna take me," Dessie whispered. 

Fred cleared his throat. "I don't know. Maybe the library?"

"Sounds good."

While still looking into Dessie's eyes, Fred said the phrase 'mischief managed' and tapped his wand against the map, making it clear. After another moment of standing in silence, Fred opened the door and walked out into the now empty hallway. Dessie smiled to herself before leaving the small closet. 


	6. decided future

One of the first things Desdemona learned in Divination was: Hufflepuffs can be huge bitches. They kept giving her dirty looks as she settled into the only open seat. The person across from her was a sweet-looking person with a mane of fluffy brown hair and freckles scattered around their warm face. They smiled at Dessie and offered a wave.

"Hello! My name is Elio," they said ever so chipper. Dessie couldn't help but offer a smile back. 

"Hi, I'm Dessie." She found herself drawn into Elio.

"I know, you're the talk of the whole school!" Elio said it like it was something to be proud of. Dessie concluded from the looks she was getting that it wasn't. A confused look made its way across her face as she fell deeper into a rabbit hole of thoughts. Elio started to panic as they registered what was happening in Dessie's brain. "Oh. Oh no. Um, what did I say? I'm sorry? Um, ahh." They started breathing heavy and mumbling things like, "you're so stupid", "god, I can't do anything right", and straight-up "fuck".

Dessie let out a small laugh. "You did nothing wrong, I just tend to overthink things a lot." She offered a small smile in hopes of helping Elio calm down, but empty breaths were still all they could produce. Dessie stretched her hand out and placed it over Elio's heart. She applied gentle pressure and took a deep breath, letting her energy course through Elio. They let their eyelids slowly fall, taking increasingly slower breaths. After being completely calmed, Elio looked up at Dessie in utter confusion. 

"How- how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"D-do that," they gestured wildly about as if that cleared everything up. "You helped calm me?" Elio sounded even more confused than Dessie was.

"I-" Professor Trelawney cut Dessie off with a raspy cough. 

"Hello, my children." The professor had a very pretty soul. She had bug-like glasses and was draped in rags. It was like she was the poster child for hippies. Dessie knew this person wasn't capable of causing any type of harm purposefully. "Please have a seat. I am Professor Trelawney, your divination teacher. " She seemed scattered like something daunting happened during the last class. Her eyes fluttered around the strange room. "Uh, divination," she muttered to herself as if trying to reboot her memory. "Yes! Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. Books cannot take you very far in this study. If you do not have the sight, there is little I will be able to teach you. M-many very talented and famous wizards are unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future." When no one looked interested, she lifted a shaking finger to a random kid. Her mouth opened. You could hear her take a breath, ready to say something she thought would shake the class up. 

A veil of concern fell over her face. She only let the sound of choking on tears out before shaking her head and lowering her finger. The classroom was a mass of silence. Their professor took in a shaky breath. " This year, we will be covering the basic methods of Divination. This term will be devoted to reading tea leaves. Next term, we shall progress to palmistry." She had another spout of confusion. She took a few steps before she shook her head and headed back to the safety of her desk. She looked around for a moment. When the professor and Dessie made eye contact, Dessie could feel her pleading. Dessie knew the professor needed something; what that was, Dessie wasn't quite sure. Professor Trelawney broke their eye contact to glance at a silver teapot.

Dessie felt herself get up and wander over to the teapot. She brought it to the professor and offered it to her with a small smile. With shaky hands, she took it and offered a breathless thank you. This incident seemed to help shake the professor out of her state a bit.

"Um, please split into pairs. Everyone go get a teacup off the shelf and bring it to me for tea. Then drink until only the dregs remain. Next-- and this is the important part, so, please, pay attention-- swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. Using the fifth and sixth pages of _Unfogging the Future_ , try to interpret your partners' patterns' in their teacup. If you struggle to do so, don't fret. I shall be helping out around the classroom." She lifted her finger to make another point but apparently thought better of it, as she, yet again, lowered her finger before saying anything. All the kids hesitantly started to make their way over to the teacups. 

While Dessie and Elio started to adventure over, Elio stopped with a puzzled look on their face. "Oh, uh, sorry I forgot to ask you, what are your pronouns?" 

Dessie put on a gentle smile. It's so kind and considerate for them to ask her. "I just use she/her for now. What are yours?" She wanted to make sure to show Elio the same kindness they have shown her. 

"I use they/them pronouns right now." Elio seemed to be walking on eggshells, trying not to say the "wrong" thing. 

Dessie was about to ask them a question when the skinny Malfoy boy "bumped" into her. He slammed his right shoulder into her left with enough force she stumbled. Once steady, she looked at him with enough malaise she could gather, trying to get him to crawl in his skin. He threw her a glance over his shoulder before doing a double-take. You could see him get physically uncomfortable. He whispered a small sorry to Dessie then looked at the ground in absolute bewilderment. His goons even looked confused. The short, fat one brought his hand up to Draco's forehead as if going to check his temperature like a concerned mother. The taller one looked like this was what he wanted to be doing, but, when Draco smacked the small boy's hand, the tall one shook his head disapprovingly. 

Dessie couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry about that," she turned back to Elio. Elio's face lit up.

"Um, I also prefer El sometimes," Elio sputtered. They seemed happy they got to share that with Dessie.

Dessie gave them a gentle smile. "Okay, thank you for telling me." She loved this person so much. They both stood there for a moment, taking in their new friendship. "Oh, teacups! Fuck, sorry, I forgot what we were supposed to be doing." Elio let out a small chuckle. 

*

Throughout divination, all Dessie could think about is her future. She tried to focus her mind many times, trying to think of things like where she wanted to go to college, if she wanted a family, what she wanted to do with her life. Each time she summoned a new question to ponder, her mind wondered. Gorgeous memories of Greece flooded her mind- stolen memories. She knew she had never been to Greece before, yet, it felt like home.


End file.
